Zimbabwe Rule of Law Journal |31 terrain set by the Constitution of Zimbabwe 2013. What is clear is that the discretion of the employer to dismiss in terms of s 65 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe is subjected to the test of fairness. The SCZ seems to deviate from jurisprudence that clearly originates from ILO conventions on labour. The Zuva case buttresses the above view on termination. The employees in question were terminated on notice after the following sequence of events: the employer initiated a retrenchment process and the employees in question were then selected for retrenchment. The employer then offered a retrenchment package to the employees, which the employees rejected. The employer opted to refer the matter to Retrenchment Board for quantification of the retrenchment package. The employer later revised its position and then terminated the employees on three months’ notice on a no fault basis. The Supreme Court then ruled that both the employer and the employee had a common law right to terminate an employment relationship on notice. The court further held that the common law right in respect of both the employer and the employee could only be limited, abolished or regulated by an Act of Parliament or a statutory Instrument Act which is, clearly, intra vires an Act of Parliament. The Supreme Court further ruled that it is also a well-established principle of statutory interpretation that a statute cannot effect an alteration of the common law without saying so explicitly. The court did find that in s12B of the Labour Act [Chapter 28:01] there expressly or impliedly was no abolition of the employer’s common law right to terminate an employment relationship by way of notices. The court ruled that section 12B deals with dismissal and the procedures to be followed in those instances where an employment relationship is to be terminated by way of dismissal following misconduct proceedings. The court made a finding that termination on notice is another method of dismissal similar to other methods like retrenchment etc.